R8 Multiband Vertical by Cushcraft

[CSL126]

R8 Multiband Vertical by Cushcraft (link below).

http://www.cushcraft.com/comm/support/pdf/r8.pdf

I'm mainly interested in listening to the HFGCS, MWARA, COTHEN, and other government/aircraft frequencies. Most of the stuff that I like to listen to is in USB (if that makes any difference). Is there a specific type of antenna (Vertical, Beam, or Dipole) that would suit me best? Thanks in advance!

 

[ButchGone]

Re:

While the Cushcraft antenna is a good one, it is expensive for what it is. If you want to monitor HF band traffic like single sideband, plain old wire works just as well and is much cheaper! A lot has to do with what kind of space you have, how high up you can get the antenna. Dipoles work very well but they must be tuned, or cut to a length that works for the frequency or band you want. They must also be aligned in the direction you want to hear signals. I have found a horizontally mounted wire loop antenna works extremely well and has the advantage of not picking up a lot of "noise." It's omnidirectional too. Vertical antennas like the Cushcraft will be bring in more noise to the singal you want to hear. A loop also works well on many different frequency bands. If you want the best and most cost efficient, build a wire antenna and use an antenna tuner to keep the antenna resonant on the band you want. Do Google searches for dipoles, loop antennas, etc and you'll find tons of info. Also try this website: www.eham.net and go to forums section.
Good luck!
BG..

 

[dkostrey]

As Butchgone said, $500 is kind of steep for what you need. Also, check the Cushcraft document, the bandwidth for which it is designed are more or less centered on fairly narrow portions of the amateur bands and you may have to change element lengths to optimize the antenna for where you wish to use it.

 

[ReceiverBeaver]

Hey guy,

If you have a yard and trees/other elevated support, then just for your HF listening maybe ya otta go with a simple yet highly effective wire antenna. A G5RV type off centerfed dipole or a 40 meter ( 7.0mhz & up) horizontal loop would be great choices. All new wire & connectors ect...still only going to be 40 bucks or less for either. Both are easy made - easy up antennas and are inexpensive to boot.

good luck

 

[kb2vxa]

Hi CSL and readers,

Most antennas especially of this design have a very steep and narrow operational slot on each band in question. For that reason a tuner is always employed and in any case even a tuner won't help out of band. In the short form, it's completely unsuitable for your application.

Wire antennas, dipoles, loops and the like also exhibit very narrow characteristics and in all cases the radiation pattern changes drastically on harmonically related bands. As always these guys are still in need of an education, they still give much misinformation. This is especially true of Receiver Beaver, he still hasn't figured out the difference between beaver and chicken. (;->)

OK, never mind the techie talk, you want a receiving antenna and really don't care about small details. While most any old hank of wire will work you'll get the best performance out of an antenna cut for the band in question. You need a bit of an education too so I'll start you off with 468/F in MHz is the formula for a half wave dipole. For more information check out the ARRL and related publications.

In any case remember that a tuner designed for Amateur bands won't work unless it has a roller inductor which extends it's range. You'd probably be better off with a fan dipole or other multi band antenna but again you'll have to do the math and design it yourself using the books for basic design graphics and formulas.

One closing thought, various SWL antennas including the sloper (which is a very good one) are available but again they're fairly band specific. On the other hand nothing galls me more than one who calls himself a serious hobbyist and then goes out and buys an antenna he could have easily made himself and a whole lot cheaper too. I'm not asking for the moon, only telling you that if you want to learn something worthwhile you have to be willing to use your brain and get your hands dirty.